Immersed Weight Measurements: A Useful Tool for Estimating Size and Predicting Wet and Dry Body Component Weights of the Sea Cucumber Cucumaria frondosa.
- 1School of Fisheries, Marine Institute of Memorial University, St. John's, NL A1C 5R3, Canada.
- 2Society for Exploration and Valuing of the Environment (SEVE), Portugal Cove-St. Philip's, NL A1M 2B7, Canada.
- 3Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University, St. John's, NL A1C 5S7, Canada.
Abstract
The commercial dendrochirotid holothuroid Cucumaria frondosa is characterized by large variability in size, weight, and volume, primarily due to morphological plasticity, which makes the species difficult to assess and describe reliably, especially in a non-destructive way. Here, three different methods for assessing immersed weight were compared. Direct measurement (using a submerged basket attached to a load cell) proved to be the most reliable, showing strong predictive power for body wall dry weights (r² = 0.86). A proximate-composition-based model incorporating component-specific densities was used to explore how variation in biochemical composition, particularly lipid content in female gonads, may influence overall body density and buoyancy. This study also highlighted the importance of accounting for internal fluid density, including fluid within the coelom and respiratory tree, in interpreting immersed weight measurements. Standardization methods, including conversion mathematical formulas, were developed, tested, and demonstrated, supporting broader application of immersed weight in both research and fisheries contexts. Overall, immersed weight standardized to a common fluid density offers a promising, non-destructive approach for assessing C. frondosa and potentially other sea cucumber species, with applications in monitoring body-component changes, growth studies, stock assessment, and sustainable fisheries management.
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BibTeX
@article{trenholm2026immersed,
title = {{Immersed Weight Measurements: A Useful Tool for Estimating Size and Predicting Wet and Dry Body Component Weights of the Sea Cucumber Cucumaria frondosa.}},
author = {Robert Trenholm and Jean-François Hamel and Deepika Dave and Annie Mercier},
journal = {Biology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/biology15191737},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883410},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Immersed Weight Measurements: A Useful Tool for Estimating Size and Predicting Wet and Dry Body Component Weights of the Sea Cucumber Cucumaria frondosa.
AU - Robert Trenholm
AU - Jean-François Hamel
AU - Deepika Dave
AU - Annie Mercier
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Biology
DO - 10.3390/biology15191737
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883410
AB - The commercial dendrochirotid holothuroid Cucumaria frondosa is characterized by large variability in size, weight, and volume, primarily due to morphological plasticity, which makes the species difficult to assess and describe reliably, especially in a non-destructive way. Here, three different methods for assessing immersed weight were compared. Direct measurement (using a submerged basket attached to a load cell) proved to be the most reliable, showing strong predictive power for body wall dry weights (r² = 0.86). A proximate-composition-based model incorporating component-specific densities was used to explore how variation in biochemical composition, particularly lipid content in female gonads, may influence overall body density and buoyancy. This study also highlighted the importance of accounting for internal fluid density, including fluid within the coelom and respiratory tree, in interpreting immersed weight measurements. Standardization methods, including conversion mathematical formulas, were developed, tested, and demonstrated, supporting broader application of immersed weight in both research and fisheries contexts. Overall, immersed weight standardized to a common fluid density offers a promising, non-destructive approach for assessing C. frondosa and potentially other sea cucumber species, with applications in monitoring body-component changes, growth studies, stock assessment, and sustainable fisheries management.
SN - 2079-7737
ER -